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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WM. F. KETOHUM, OF BUFFALO, NEW' YORK.

MODE OF ASCENDING AND DESCENDING INCLINED PLANES ON RILROADS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 1,107, dated March 20, 1839.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I,VVILLIA1\I E. KnToI-IUM,of the city of Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York,have invented an improvement in the mode of constructing the wheels oflocomotive-engines and of rails adapted to such wheels, by the aid ofwhich locomotives with the trains attached to them may be made to ascendinclined planes, the adhesion of the wheels to the rails being increasedwithout the employment of cogs, while said wheels may be reduced in sizeto any desirable extent, thus increasing the power of ascent in the sameratio; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exactdescription thereof.

The ordinary driving wheels of the locomotive engine, are made in theusual way, but on the same axis on which two ordinary wheels are fixed,I place another pair o-f wheels, on the outside of those ordinarywheels. The additional wheels may be made of such diameter as will adaptthem to the grade of the inclined plate up which they are to ascend. Theperipheries of these wheels are to be grooved, or channeled, in themanner of those pulleys or wheels which are to receive a rope, or chain;the form of' the groove, or channel, may vary, but I most commonly sinkit so as to form a V groove, but this is not a point of importance. Thewheels, constructed as above, are to run upon rails adapted to them,placed on a line with, and outside of, the ordinary rails of the track,and raised above the ordinary rails to a height sufficient to raise theordinary wheels above them, so that they may revolve freely withoutcoming into contact with any thing. The rails adapted to the groovedwheels, are to be ridge formed, so as to fit into the grooves of thewheels, and so that the sides of the grooves may bind upon them in anydesired degree.

It will be readily perceived that the form of the groove and of therail, may be varied in any manner consistent with the main object of theconstruction, namely, that of causing the one forcibly to embrace theother. It will also be evident that the same principle may be varied byforming the groove in the rail, and the ridge upon the wheel; but thisarrangement would be objectionable as the grooved rail would retain anysubstance which might fall, or be placed within it. The extra wheels areto have some lateral play to adapt them to the unavoidableirregularities of the rails; and to admit of this I make the portion ofthe axis upon which they are placed and the holes through the centers ofthe wheels, square or otherwise polygonal; or, if round, I check themfrom turning and allow as shown at E them to play laterally, by means ofa feather.

In the accompanying drawings, A,A, Figures et and 2, represent theordinary driving wheels, and B and C, the extra wheels, l5 beinggrooved, and O ridged, the rails D, D, upon when they run, being made ofa corresponding form. Fig. 3, shows that the rail D, though differinggreatly from those in Figs. l and 2, in its form, may still be forciblyembraced by the groove in the wheel.

By placing these additional wheels on the outside of the ordinarydriving wheels, I am enabled to vary their size from an equality withthat of the driving wheels, to the smallest diameter at which they canbe eligibly used on the steepest ascents. They can also be readilyremoved, and those of other sizes substituted for them, should it bedesired, or they may be left ofil when it is desired to allow thedriving wheels to run upon the ordinary rails.

I do not claim to be the inventor of the mode of increasing adhesion ofwheels, to the rails by making one of them with a ridge, and the otherwith a groove, this having been previously done, the extra wheels forthis purpose having been placed on the insides of the driving wheels;but

TWhat I do claim is* An improvement in the manner of using such wheels,by placing them outside of the driving wheels, by which change they aremuch better adapted to the intended purpose than when placed on theinside, as their diameters may be varied to any desirable extent; while,also, they may be readily removed, or others may be substituted forthem, as above specified.

W. F. KETCHUM. l/Vitnesses C. I-I. MILTBERGER, LINToN THORN.

